Getting Closer

After many changes concerning the means of travel to TX... flying is the cheapest/wisest choice and the ticket has just been purchased for February 5th!

The "see you later's" are beginning:

*Winchester, VA: Dec 30 & Jan 2nd

*DE for New Years Eve/1st

*This Monday friends from Washington, NC are coming to NewBern

*ElizabethCity and HamptonRoads on 14th-16th possibly

*21st-22rd Two Rivers Church in New Bern

*23rd @ Stoneybrook Church of Christ in Wilson, NC, Lord willing.

*30th-3rd Hilton Head, SC

*ElizabethCity, NC Feb. 3-4th

I hope to get to hang out with many of you before I go so please get in touch with me if you are near the places mentioned above! New Bern friends, lets set some hang outs soon! : )

If you want to partner with Pioneer Bible Translators in prayer, updates, support, etc. please contact me via here, Facebook or email! Mail within the next week!

Huge thank you's to my Mom-Donna, sister-Andrea, the Neiweik's, and my good friend Linda for transporting me and/or letting me borrow your vehicles the last 6 months and in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for sharing your blessings; you have blessed me immensely!

Show me your ways, O'Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. - Psalm 25:4-5

Home

It's been quite a journey the past 3 weeks as I have been on the other side of the world! Unfortunately I didn't feel like I had much time to blog about the things that I was experiencing but the good thing is that I did write a ton in my personal pen & paper journal that I can transport some here!

While in Asia I was blessed to be able to participate in many things: A traditional Javanese wedding and pre-wedding ceremonies; hanging out and fellowshipping many times with the people at a church; doing a craft at a pre-school; visiting a few friends that I met 2.5 years ago; painting 4 rooms in the Scotts house; hiking around a volcano; hiking to a waterfall; going to a zoo; visiting a large museum about the country; most of all, bonding as a team through all of these adventures and our meetings. Overall, this trip was so encouraging and we were all blessed in so many ways!

The next few weeks/days I will post blurbs from journal entries so be on the lookout!

We arrived in the states Wed. night around 10:35PM. Including the time we left the city in Asia to when I arrived at my house it was about a 47 hour journey back to the states. Right now I'm dealing with jet lag for sure. Thought I was doing great by forcing myself to go to bed at 11:15 but unfortunately I was up at 3:15 this morning awake and couldn't sleep until 5:15 and then was up at 8.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support! May the journey continue...

Off to SE Asia

In approx. 11 hours we will be on a plane making our journey to SE Asia! The day has finally arrived! Saving for 3 years is finally serving its purpose and I know that the blood, sweat and tears that it took to get to this point will bear much fruit. My stomach turns with pure excitement and wonder as to how this trip will have an impact on the future.

If you didn't know, some of my team members and myself are joining with others in SE Asia and we will be working together to learn more about each other, our team, the culture, etc. Tomorrow we will be on 3 different flights and we just got in from a 14 hour drive from KY to TX so we are slightly exhausted so your prayers for energy would be much appreciated.

There isn't much time to write this blog but I do hope to be updating as often as possible while there so be on the lookout. Grace and peace.

Krystal

Steps

Small Steps:

Insurance information has been turned in.

Information & pictures for prayer cards has been turned in. Hopefully they'll be sent out as soon as I return!

1st draft of a budget, turned in and edited.

Blog has been started.

Questions have been answered.

Needless to say, the past few days have been extremely productive! I wish that I could have gotten this stuff done months ago.

Big step:

Tomorrow is my last Sunday as the Children's Director at Two Rivers Church, tonight I have knots in my stomach. Although what's cool is that I'm spending the night hanging out with one of my kids, Makayla and her Grandmother and outstanding volunteer, Linda : ) Good to be with great company for times like these. Please be in prayer for Two Rivers as they continue to look for a Children's Director and please pray for me as tomorrow will be extremely emotional. Goodnight all!

Will You Join?

May a new journey begin!

Every year during Earth Day in elementary school, we would come out to load onto the school busses and there would be large boxes of small pine trees in little bags that each child could take home to plant in their yards. Every year I grabbed 3 or 4, and every year they would sit on our porch and die. Then there was one year where we decided to actually plant those little dinky things smack in the middle of our large open front yard. Recently my sister, Andrea, passed by our childhood home in WV and took a photo of the house; now, those trees are so large that one could barely see the house! This was a very unexpected outcome indeed.

This journey is a tree in the making.

How did I get to this point?

Some 4+ years ago I didn't have a clue as to where God was leading me but what I did know, and still know, is that God created me to go into the world, not just America, but the world, and tell them about Christ. It was about that time friends, family and myself began to pray that God would start directing me. Sooner or later I found myself in Thailand teaching English, games, crafts, computer and building some amazing relationships! Then the opportunity came to spend a month in the SE Asian islands visiting and helping out with anything they needed with the local church and this is where I felt at home. That tree had been planted, was watered and fed with some extra vitamins and started forming whole new branches, strong branches.

Two and an half years later, I find myself as a recruit with Pioneer Bible Translators; going on a "vision trip" back to the islands; moving to TX for training and then possibly living more long-tern in SE Asia. Talk about this tree hitting a growth spurt.

That's why this blog is beginning. It is so extremely important that others become aware of the needs that this world has; yes we know that most of the world is in physical pain from starvation and sickness, but all in all their eternal life is what is on the line right now. Pioneer Bible Translators does this by finding what language groups do not have the scriptures and translating them into their mother tongue so that they can know Christ. Personally, translation is not something God has gifted me with but he has gifted me with the ability to meet people, love on them and tell them about Him and that's what the plan is! There NO WAY that we can do it without the love and support from others! This blog is meant to help you become a part of loving others on the other side of the world an translating the Bible so that they are able read what we read and know that God loves them. Please join and become a part of changing others lives just like maybe yours has been.

So what have you been up to the past 2.5 years?

Church planting. Two Rivers Church was born in New Bern, NC and an new branch of my life was formed. Never imagining working with children, children's ministry is where God placed me and while they drive us all crazy, there's something extremely special and rewarding getting to work with children and being able to tell them about God. The people here have taught me so much about life, military, love, relationships, work, etc. and God has taught me so much during the past 2 years! Now, they send me, oh what a privilege! (There could easily be a blog written purely about Two Rivers!)

Can you join in this mission?